On Tuesday night Joe, Jr and I will be driving down Interstate-85 to the Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, NC as the Canadian power-trio Rush pulls into the Old North State for a stop on their “Clockwork Angels Tour”. The band has been a large part of my life since the age of 18 and has provided the proverbial soundtrack for so many of those moments (both good and bad) that one piles up after half-a-century on this rock. I can imagine what you are thinking: A socially-challenged engineer who can’t get with the whole religion program is a Rush Fan – you must be joking! What do they say about the kernel of truth that resides in almost every stereotype? The Imaginative Conservative does an almost perfect job of capturing what drew so many of us to the band in the first place and what has kept us there over all these years (as well as providing a delicious review of the current disc.)
Clockwork Angels has been getting some seriously heavy airplay in my rotation - a concept album centered around a spiritual journey that the protagonist takes throughout his life. Drummer and lyricist Neil Peart has been noodling on death and determinism, fate and freewill, faith and religion – you know, light fare like that. These topics that have been a consistent theme of Peart’s writing forever and especially so since he lost his 19-year old “only-child” daughter (car accident on the day she left for college) and wife (cancer) within a year of each other in 1997/1998.
The disc ends with a cut entitled “The Garden”. Musically, this is about as far away from progressive metal as one could get – not at all like most of the strong and aggressive CA material. It is tastefully layered with lush orchestration, a terrific piano interlude, and a signature guitar solo from Alex. Lyrically, Neil is playing off of the “garden motif” in Voltaire’s Candide with the protagonist in Clockwork Angels coming to a realization about the “real quest of his life”:
LONG AGO I READ A STORY FROM ANOTHER TIMELINE about a character named Candide. He also survived a harrowing series of misadventures and tragedies, then settled on a farm near Constantinople. Listening to a philosophical rant, Candide replied, "That is all very well, but now we must tend our garden." I have now arrived at that point in my own story. There is a metaphorical garden in the acts and attitudes of a person's life, and the treasures of that garden are love and respect. I have come to realize that the gathering of love and respect - from others and for myself - has been the real quest of my life."Now we must tend our garden."
Forget about the ridiculous musical chops, the 40 million units sold, the 24 gold and 14 platinum records. Forget about these guys basically writing all the chapters in the progressive metal handbook. Forget about the critical acclaim coming so late in their career after the decades of critical ridicule. Forget about the whole generation of bands they have influenced. Forget about the 38 years of playing together and touring, honing their playing, arranging, and production. Forget about all of that.
Just listen to this beautiful composition from Rush and think. Think about the most important people in your life – especially those already passed on – who “tended their garden” so well. Think about the lives they lived and the legacies they left behind. Think about the love they gathered and the respect they earned. If you can do all that while listening to this wonderful music without your heartstrings getting tugged, even just a little bit, then I am afraid you really have no heart. In reading the many sterling reviews of Clockwork Angels, one of the best lines I came across referred to this song as “Viagra for the Soul”.
To listen, you have to first click the Play button and then click the “Watch on YouTube” link which will launch YouTube in your browser. It seems Warner Music Group doesn’t allow this track to be embedded directly in blogs.
The measure of a life is a measure of love and respect
So hard to earn, so easily burned
In the fullness of time
A garden to nurture and protect
